Engagement Story...

Dec 30, 2007 18:30

You see what had happened was...
prologue
I had the ring selected well before going home for Christmas, but it had to be re-sized. It was ready the day after I got to B'ham, but I a)couldn't pay for it yet and b)wasn't about to drive all the way to Auburn and back just to pick it up (that would have drawn way too much suspicion). I was already supposed to go back to Auburn for a couple of days for legitimate reasons, so I had to bide my time for a few days...and that was great because I really had no plan yet anyway.

The set of pots and pans my dad and I selected for Jessica didn't meet my mom's rigorous speculations (big surprise). So, my parents' present to Jessica was going to have to wait.

The clothes I had ordered online got held up in shipping somewhere in Tennessee on the 23rd, so my present to Jessica was also going to be getting to her late.

The day before I went back to Auburn, I had a little talk with Jessica's dad...and mom...and little sister while Jessica was at work. That's kind of a fun story too, but not necessary here. Before meeting up with Jessica after she got off of work, I bought two pairs of earrings on sale at Macy's. I gave one to her that night, but told her she would have to wait on the other pair.

The time came for me to go back to Auburn to drive vans for the internationals' ministry Lakeview Baptist Church. My plan was to get to Auburn, pick up a paycheck from Village Photographers, cash it, then use that money as the first payment on the ring. I was also expecting a support check from Lakeview, but I only expected to pick that up and put it in the bank after driving vans. However, when I arrived at Village late on Thursday afternoon, they didn't have checks cut yet. No big deal, I could wait till the next day.

Friday afternoon rolls around and I head over to Village before going to drive vans...checks still aren't ready. My time-table is a bit shaken at this point. However, I hope to be done with vans enough before 5 to be able to come back, get the paycheck, go to the bank, cash it, go to Swanson's Diamond Center, and get the ring before things start closing. I head over to Lakeview to find that the check there has also not been distributed.

Van driving ensues. We have a good crowd, but only have to make one trip with the two vans. The first van fills back up after about an hour at Walmart and takes off with just over half the people. I take the second van load a good deal later. Amazingly, my van is empty after only three or four stops. I actually made it back to Lakeview before the first van did! Extra good news: my support check was in my box ::cha-ching::.

At around four, I arrived back at Village. There, I milled around with a couple of other photogs who also wanted their checks. It turns out that a few days before this the girl who did the accounting had quit, so Allen, the owner, was having to do it all himself...and he wasn't very familiar with the software. About 4:45 I finally had my check in hand, but it was $106 short because the software hadn't added my travel fees to the total amount. While Allen was trying to figure it out, he got an important phone call. I was like, "I'll just pick the rest up later."

::whoosh:: I'm at the bank, putting some in my account, but taking a fistful of crisp, clean $100 bills out the door with me. So glad they are open an extra hour on Friday.
::whoosh:: I'm at Swanson's. So glad that they don't close until 6. Ms. D has the ring in hand before I am through the door. I had to take a moment before completing the transaction...these are weighty matters, indeed. I walked out of there with a bag containing a box containing a box containing a ring representing a grand amount of feeling, commitment, dreams, and a host of other things.

I went home, did some laundry, washed some dishes, etc. I could barely sleep. I don't even remember what I did with that Saturday. Sunday, I went to church at Lakeview, then went back to the Container to do some final cleaning up before heading north towards destiny...umm, I mean Jessica.

the real story
The plan, as far a Jessica knew it, was for me to get back to B'ham around 5 then ride with her family to an aunt and uncle's house to watch the Alabama bowl game. So around 1:30pm, I called to tell her that I still had stuff in the washer that I needed to get into the dryer before I left Auburn (100% true statement) and that it would be another hour or more before I got on the road. I could tell she was not pleased with the idea of me cutting her schedule so close, but she didn't make a fuss.

I took my time, and was on the road nearing Alabaster at about 5pm when I called her again. I told her that I wanted to stop by my parents house to trim my beard, pick up her presents, and so forth before meeting up with her (100% true statements). She didn't like it, but I convinced her that it wouldn't be that bad if we had to go up separate from her parents. I also told her that if she wanted to wait on getting her presents then I would just come right on (this idea troubled me, because it would blow my whole scheme), but she didn't like that idea either.

I called my mom from the interstate, asking her to go ahead and wrap Jessica's present (which she had acquired to her satisfaction while I was in Auburn) as well as what I had gotten for her. Well, my mom had already put all the wrapping stuff away in the garage, so by the time I got home she had just gotten the wrapping stuff upstairs.

As my mom usually does, she was both very helpful and wigging out at the same time. She calmed down a bit after I explained to her that I was intentionally running late, but she never was satisfied with my attire. Of course, she apologized for all this later, and I only include it here so you get the whole story.

Anyway, my master plan of having multiple individually wrapped items to give Jessica fell by the wayside when my 3 clothing items went into one box and my mom's pots went into a huge gift bag. But that was o.k. too. I was on the road again by about six and at Jessica's around 6:30pm.

When I knocked on her downstairs door she let me in and was pleased by the fact that I had presents. I looked at the laundry that was uncharacteristically covering the downstairs couch and said, "Let's go sit in front of the tree to open presents." She said, "O.K.!" in that special way she does when she's excited. Up the stairs we went. When she plopped down Indian-style ("criss-cross apple sauce" for current elementary school teachers) in the middle of the floor I thought to myself, "how do you get down on one knee if you're already sitting in the floor...?" But I went with it.

She brought out the Bible which she had gotten for me and I got to see it with my name imprinted on it. (It's nice.) Then I proceeded to give her presents. I gave her ... I think ... my parents' present first. I told her to close her eyes between each one. She like them. Then I let her unwrap the box containing my first gifts, but told her she couldn't open the box all the way because I wanted her to get them one at a time. Thankfully, the tape on the box held, and I got the box back before she opened it all the way. I had been telling her for weeks that I had gotten her underwear, so I made her close her eyes and what did I pass her first? Thermal underwear bottoms! (If you know that Jessica is always cold, you will understand that this is actually a thoughtful gift.) And next? A thermal underwear top! Followed by a fun stripped turtleneck. "Close your eyes" between each one.

"So last time you picked the left pocket, that means I have go give you what's in the right pocket now," I said.
"O.K.!" she said.
And she closed her eyes and then she got the other (see prologue) pair of earrings, which she immediately put in her ears, and also which match the ring she was about to get pretty darn well.
"You want another present?"
"O.K.!"

Now, you need to understand that at times in the past, "hey, you want a present?" has usually preceded the giving of a pink Starburst or Hershey Kiss or something else small. That is the sort of thing she is expecting at this point.

"You have to close your eyes...are they closed?"
"Yes."
"Are they really closed?" as I'm shuffling wrapping paper.
"Yes."
"Are you sure?" as I'm pulling the box out of my coat pocket and getting up on one knee.
"Yes."
I'm grinning so hard it almost hurts.

...now you also need to know that up to this point me and Jessica have not said "I love you" yet (I'm not saying that's the way everybody should do it, that's just what we decided to do)...

"Jessica, do you love?" at this point the ring is inches from her face.
"...yes..." she says in a high-pitched voice, unsure of what's going on as she pulls her hands slowly from her eyes.
"I love you, Jessica. Will you marry me?"
"Yes..." still high-pitched, though she's figured out what's going on now.

There are a few moments here where she's looking at the ring before her and processing the situation. Then she says, "Say it again."
So I say, "Will you marry me?"
To which she replies, "No! The other thing!"
"I love you, Jessica!"
"I love you too!"

And after a few more moments along these lines she actually put the ring on her finger.

We looked at the ring in the Christmas tree lights, then we looked at it under the lights in the kitchen, then we looked at it in the mirror in the hall... then she froze. "Wait, I did say yes, didn't I?" I assured her that she had.

epilogue
We went over to her aunt and uncle's house, giddy all the way. When we walked up to the door, Jessica's little sister Samantha craned her neck to inconspicuously as possible get a look at her hand. As soon as she and her mom got that confirming look the place was a blur with squealing and congratulating and hugging and such. The best part was when one of her other uncles who hadn't met me yet came upstairs and Jessica said, "This is my fiance, Paul."

After a while and for most of the way home, she was calling her friends to tell them about it. I waited a little longer.

wedding, jessica, engagement

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